NFL officials said that the league's rate of noncontact lower-extremity injuries was “nearly the same on synthetic and natural turf” in 2023, the “second time in three years those trend lines have essentially intersected,” according to Seifert & Graziano of ESPN.com The data “helps inform the ongoing debate over the safety of playing surfaces at the NFL's 30 stadiums.” NFL EVP/Communications, Public Affairs and Policy Jeff Miller said that the similar rates “point to a ‘need to look at all surfaces’ for ways to improve.” NFLPA Exec Dir Lloyd Howell last fall “called on all teams to convert to grass fields” after Jets QB Aaron Rodgers “tore his left Achilles tendon on MetLife Stadium's synthetic turf.” Several teams replaced a type of synthetic turf called “slit film” after the 2022 season, noting that it had “produced higher injury rates than other forms of turf and grass.” Two others will do so after the 2023 season, leaving Cincinnati's Paycor Stadium as the “only facility without plans to replace slit-film turf before the 2024 season.” Meanwhile, concussion numbers were “relatively stable” -- the NFL had 219 concussions across the preseason and regular-season games and practices, up from 213 in 2022 (ESPN.com, 2/2).
